Lydiard House and Park is safe and not for sale – Open letter to residents

A letter organised by Cllr Dale Heenan has been signed by all 29 Conservative Councillors on Swindon Borough Council, both MP’s, and Council candidates, making it clear that Lydiard House and Park is not for sale, and demonstrates the strength of the Conservative party’s feeling to protect Swindon’s heritage so future generations can enjoy the Park.

Cllr Dale Heenan, (Covingham and Dorcan), “Lydiard is not for sale, and we cannot stand by while one of the most dishonest and negative political campaigns that Swindon has ever seen is launched by Labour. Labour have delivered thousands of personal letters and campaign leaflets to residents which say Lydiard is being sold off as part of an asset stripping campaign.

The truth is that we want to see more use of Lydiard as a Wedding venue, more people buying cups of tea at the cafe, more people taking part in charity fundraising runs and more families enjoying days out at the Park.

This letter shows every Conservative Councillor, Candidate and our two MP’s are saying with one voice, enough is enough. If a politician is prepared to lie and use inflammatory language about Lydiard Park to gain a few votes then how can you believe a word they say about anything.”

Cllr David Renard, (Haydon Wick), Leader of Swindon Borough Council, “Lydiard is not and has never been considered for sale. Senior Labour Councillors know this, and are actively involved on the Council’s working party which is discussing the difficult questions of how to come up with sustainable futures of the town’s parks and heritage facilities. They cannot plead ignorance.

Our ambition is for there to be more commercial and charitable activities happening at Lydiard so that we can increase both visitor numbers and income meaning the park is much less reliant on public subsidy. “

You may have recently heard from someone knocking at your door that Lydiard Park is up for sale. We can state categorically that Lydiard Park is NOT being offered for sale and NO such proposal has been discussed. Residents should treat these claims with the contempt they deserve because they are only designed to mislead.

Swindon Conservatives are proud of Lydiard Park which includes the Palladian House, the Church and Walled Garden which is set in 260 acres of parkland. So proud are we, that we secured £5M of investment in order to restore it all to its former glory. We have invested in the children’s play area, Cafe and tea rooms and a series of events and education programmes which make Lydiard a great destination for a family day out or a short visit.

We are determined to secure the long term future of Lydiard Park so it can prosper and be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations. Many commercial and charitable activities already take place in the park such as venue hire for receptions and weddings, the hire of bbqs, the sale of plants outside the Walled Garden, a cafe, the adventure JungleParc and charity fundraising runs. Our ambition is for there to be more of these activities to increase both visitor numbers and income meaning the park is much less reliant on public subsidy.

Sadly, Senior Labour Party Councillors, Council Candidates and the two Labour Party Parliamentary Candidates have decided to misrepresent our position to start one of the most dishonest and negative political campaigns that Swindon has ever seen. Their claims that Lydiard park is being “sold off” as part of an “asset stripping” campaign are shocking and bring politics into disrepute. It is also deeply disturbing that, in these financially challenging times, they have no vision for the future of Swindon.

Senior Labour councillors are actively involved on the council’s working party which is discussing the difficult questions of how to come up with sustainable futures of the town’s parks and heritage facilities. They cannot plead ignorance and this tactic has destroyed any credibility the Labour Party may have had so do not believe their claims.